According to one aspect of the invention, a shim for sealing two adjacent turbine transition pieces is disclosed. The shim includes a circumferential member that includes a first lateral flange and a second lateral flange. Further, the first and second lateral flanges each comprise a tab configured to mate to a first surface plane and the first and second lateral flanges are configured to mate to a second surface plane, wherein the first and second surface planes are substantially parallel. In addition, the shim includes a first flange extending substantially perpendicular from the circumferential member.
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4. A gas turbine comprising:
an annular array of transition pieces, each extending between a combustor and a stage one nozzle,
wherein a transition piece seal assembly is located between each transition piece and the stage one nozzle;
wherein each transition piece seal assembly comprises a left radial side-seal, a right radial side-seal, an outer circumferential seal with a radially outer-facing surface profile, and an inner circumferential seal with a radially inner-facing surface profile,
where a plurality of outer circumferential seal form an annular array with a larger radial diameter than an annular array formed by a plurality of the inner circumferential seals; and
a shim installed in a radially inward or outward direction to cover a circumferential gap between two adjacent of said outer circumferential seals in a first configuration, or two adjacent of said inner circumferential seals in a second configuration, respectively, of adjacent first and a second transition piece seal assemblies, the shim comprising a circumferential portion with a first lateral flange and a second lateral flange,
in the first configuration, the first lateral flange is shaped to slide over the outer radial surface profile of a right corner of the first transition piece seal assembly outer circumferential seal and the second lateral flange is shaped to slide over the outer radial surface profile of a left corner of the second transition piece seal assembly outer circumferential seal,
in the second configuration, the first lateral flange is shaped to slide over the inner radial surface profile of a right corner of the first transition piece seal assembly inner circumferential seal and the second lateral flange shaped to slide over the inner radial surface profile of a left corner of the second transition piece seal assembly inner circumferential seal.
1. A shim for sealing two adjacent turbine transition pieces of a gas turbine combustor,
each transition piece extending between the combustor and a stage one nozzle,
wherein a transition piece seal assembly is located between each transition piece and the stage one nozzle, wherein each transition piece seal assembly comprises a left radial side-seal, a right radial side-seal, an outer circumferential seal with a radially outer-facing surface profile, and an inner circumferential seal with a radially inner-facing surface profile,
where a plurality of outer circumferential seal form an annular array with a larger radial diameter than an annular array formed by a plurality of the inner circumferential seals,
said shim installed in a radially inward or outward direction to cover a circumferential gap between two adjacent of said outer circumferential seals in a first configuration, or two adjacent of said inner circumferential seals in a second configuration, respectively, of adjacent first and a second transition piece seal assemblies,
the shim comprising a circumferential portion with a first lateral flange and a second lateral flange,
in the first configuration, the first lateral flange is shaped to slide over the outer radial surface profile of a right corner of the first transition piece seal assembly outer circumferential seal and the second lateral flange is shaped to slide over the outer radial surface profile of a left corner of the second transition piece seal assembly outer circumferential seal,
in the second configuration, the first lateral flange is shaped to slide over the inner radial surface profile of a right corner of the first transition piece seal assembly inner circumferential seal and the second lateral flange shaped to slide over the inner radial surface profile of a left corner of the second transition piece seal assembly inner circumferential seal.
2. The shim of
3. The shim of
5. The gas turbine of
6. The gas turbine of
7. The gas turbine of
8. The gas turbine of
9. The gas turbine of
10. The gas turbine of
11. The gas turbine of
12. The gas turbine of
13. The gas turbine of
14. The gas turbine of
15. The gas turbine of
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This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-FC26-05NT42643, awarded by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The Government has certain rights in this invention.
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbines. More particularly, the subject matter relates to transition piece assemblies in gas turbines.
In a gas turbine, a combustor converts chemical energy of a fuel or an air-fuel mixture into thermal energy. The thermal energy is conveyed by a fluid, often compressed air from a compressor, to a turbine where the thermal energy is converted to mechanical energy. Increased conversion efficiency leads to reduced emissions, such as reduced nitrous oxide emissions. Several factors influence the efficiency of the conversion of thermal energy to mechanical energy. The factors may include blade passing frequencies, fuel supply fluctuations, fuel type and reactivity, combustor head-on volume, fuel nozzle design, air-fuel profiles, flame shape, air-fuel mixing, flame holding and gas flow leakages between components. For example, leaks in flow of air from the compressor discharge casing side of the combustor through the interface between the transition piece(s) and the stage one turbine nozzle(s) can cause increased emissions by causing air to bypass the combustor resulting in higher peak gas temperatures. Leaks may be caused by thermal expansion of certain components and relative movement between components. Accordingly, reducing gas leaks in the assembly between the transition piece and nozzle can improve efficiency and performance of the turbine.
According to one aspect of the invention, a shim for sealing two adjacent turbine transition pieces is disclosed. The shim includes a circumferential member that includes a first lateral flange and a second lateral flange. Further, the first and second lateral flanges each comprise a tab configured to mate to a first surface plane and the first and second lateral flanges are configured to mate to a second surface plane, wherein the first and second surface planes are substantially parallel. In addition, the shim includes a first flange extending substantially perpendicular from the circumferential member.
According to another aspect of the invention, a gas turbine is disclosed, wherein the gas turbine includes an annular array of transition pieces, each extending between a combustor and a stage one nozzle, wherein a transition piece seal assembly is located between each transition piece and the stage one nozzle. The gas turbine also includes a shim located at an interface between adjacent transition piece seal assemblies, wherein the shim comprises a first lateral flange configured to receive a corner of a first transition piece seal assembly and a second lateral flange configured to receive a corner of a second transition piece seal assembly.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the disclosure together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
In an aspect, the combustor 104 uses liquid and/or gas fuel, such as natural gas or a hydrogen rich synthetic gas, to run the engine. For example, fuel nozzles 110 are in fluid communication with an air supply and a fuel supply. The fuel nozzles 110 create an air-fuel mixture, and discharge the air-fuel mixture into the combustor 104, thereby causing a combustion that creates a hot pressurized exhaust gas. The combustor 104 directs the hot pressurized exhaust gas through a transition piece (not shown) into a turbine nozzle (or “stage one nozzle”), causing turbine 106 rotation. The rotation of turbine 106 causes the shaft 108 to rotate, thereby compressing the air as it flows into the compressor 102. In an embodiment, each of an array of combustors is coupled to a transition piece positioned between the combustor and a nozzle of the turbine. The interface between these transition pieces is discussed in detail with reference to
In an embodiment, shims 224 and 226 are used to join adjacent transition piece seal assemblies and control a leakage of pressurized air flowing from on an external or outer portion of one or more transition pieces into the hot gas path. For example, transition piece seal assembly 208 is joined to transition piece seal assembly 210 by shim 226, wherein the shim reduces air leakage between components. Further, shim 224 controls a leakage between transition piece seal assembly 208 and an adjacent seal assembly (not shown). Interface 228 shows a joint between transition piece seal assembly 210 and transition piece seal assembly 212 without a shim, wherein a gap 230 exists between the components. As depicted by shim 226, the shim has two lateral flanges, each flange configured to receive respective adjacent corner portions of the seal assemblies 208 and 210. Accordingly, the shims 224 and 226 are configured to cover a gap, such as gap 230, to reduce a leakage of gas in the turbine as it flows to the turbine nozzle portion of the engine, thereby enabling more of the hot gas to be converted to mechanical energy and improve turbine performance. As discussed herein, a shim is a member, of any suitable thickness and material, configured to fill or reduce a gap between components. The shim (224, 226) geometry and application, as described herein, may apply to an interface between transition piece seal corners at either the inner seal 218 or outer seal 220. For example, substantially the same shim geometry as discussed herein may be used to control leakage at an inner seal interface 232 as well as outer seal interface 228. Further, in an embodiment, the shims 224 and 226 are retained in place by a pressure differential caused by a pressure 234 external to the transition pieces 202, 204 and 206 that is greater than a pressure 236 inside the transition pieces. The pressure differential may be used in addition to spot welds and other suitable coupling methods to attach the shims 224 and 226 to selected locations in the turbine 200. In addition, the shim geometry is altered to fit different seal geometries other than the depicted example.
In other embodiments, the shim 226 does not include tabs, wherein the flanges (314, 318, 322) are welded to the transition piece seals 306 and 310. In another embodiment, the shim 226 does not include a vertical flange, where the lateral flanges 314 and 318 are secured to corner portions 304 and 308 to control a leakage at interface 300. The shim 226 may be formed by any suitable method, such as cutting, stamping and forming a sheet metal, such as stainless steel or steel alloy, into the desired geometry. As depicted in
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
Demiroglu, Mehmet, Sarawate, Neelesh Nandkumar, Lacy, Benjamin Paul
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Oct 06 2010 | LACY, BENJAMIN PAUL | General Electric Company, a New York Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 025108 | /0994 | |
Oct 06 2010 | SARAWATE, NEELESH NANDKUMAR | General Electric Company, a New York Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 025108 | /0994 | |
Oct 06 2010 | LACY, BENJAMIN PAUL | General Electric Company | CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE STATE OF THE ASSIGNEE AND THE SIGNATURE DATE OF INVENTOR, DEMIROGLU PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 025108 FRAME 0994 ASSIGNOR S HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT | 025365 | /0706 | |
Oct 06 2010 | SARAWATE, NEELESH NANDKUMAR | General Electric Company | CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE STATE OF THE ASSIGNEE AND THE SIGNATURE DATE OF INVENTOR, DEMIROGLU PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 025108 FRAME 0994 ASSIGNOR S HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT | 025365 | /0706 | |
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